Fact Check: Goa Congress Social Media Chief’s picture Viral With Fake Claim
The viral post is fake. The woman in the picture is not Dr Rajkumari Bansal, who visited the Hathras victim’s family. Goa Congress social media head Pratibha Borkar’s picture is shared with fake claims.
- By: Ashish Maharishi
- Published: Oct 16, 2020 at 09:12 PM
New Delhi (Vishvas News). A picture of a woman seated in a Congress event is viral with a claim that she is Dr Rajkumari, who visited the Hathras Victim’s family and gave interviews to News channels.
Vishvas News investigation revealed the viral post is fake. An old picture of Goa Congress social media in-charge Pratibha Borkar is now viral with some false claims.
Claim
Facebook user Mangesh Pawar uploaded a picture on October 12, writing, “Hathras..It is #Naxal woman named #Doc_Rajkumari, who became a fake sister-in-law of the victim from 14 September to 25 September and lived in the victim’s house and gave interviews to the news channels as the sister-in-law of the victim.”
Another social media user shared the picture writing, “Hathras fake bhabhi in the Congress event…” The archived version of viral post can be seen here.
Investigation
Vishvas News first started searching for viral images using the Google reverse image tool. After scanning several links, we found the original picture on Pratibha Borkar’s Facebook account. It was her cover photo on 12 May.
We visited the Goa Congress Facebook page and found this picture of a press conference held on 29 September 2019.
We also found a video of Pratibha Borkar uploaded on 14 October by the Goa Congress page stating, “GPCC social media incharge Ms. Pratibha Borkar filed formal complaint with DGP, Goa Police, Panjim today i.e on Wednesday 14/10/2020 for circulating defamatory, derogatory and false information on her and other leaders of the party through social media platforms. Party functionaries.”
We contacted Pratibha Borkar, the social media head of the Goa Congress to verify the claim. She told us that her picture is viral with fake claims as Naxal Bhabhi of Hathras. “The picture of a press conference held last year is viral with false claims to harass me. A complaint has been filed to the Goa Police,” said Borkar.
We decided to investigate about the sister-in-law (Bhabhi) conspiracy in the Hathras case. According to a news article in the Dainik Jagran, “The SIT team is looking for a woman from Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh. Meanwhile, on being accused of being a Naxalite, Dr. Rajkumari Bansal released a statement to the media…”
The article has quoted Bansal’s statement clarifying that she has no relationship with the victim’s family but only visited them in Boolgadhi village.
The India Today’s Twitter handle has posted a video on 13 October where Bansal can be seen denying claims about her connection with Naxalites.
Social scanning of the Facebook user Mangesh Pawar who shared the viral post revealed that he has 486 followers on Facebook.
Conclusion: The viral post is fake. The woman in the picture is not Dr Rajkumari Bansal, who visited the Hathras victim’s family. Goa Congress social media head Pratibha Borkar’s picture is shared with fake claims.
- Claim Review : Hathras..It is #Naxal woman named #Doc_Rajkumari, who became a fake sister-in-law of the victim from 14 September to 25 September and lived in the victim's house and gave interviews to the news channels as the sister-in-law of the victim
- Claimed By : Facebook user Mangesh Pawar
- Fact Check : False
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